1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a field of cookware or any other field, where specifically, an ability to gradually adjust amount of particle drainage and vapor or liquid release is required.
2. Background of the Invention
The present invention is an adjustable draining apparatus which can be used for different applications. For instance, some of the applications are pitchers, drinking cups, gardening watering and fertilizing cans, etc. For exemplary purpose, a cooking application will be described herein.
Preparation of foods such as pasta, meat, and vegetables often requires an individual to cook the food in liquid while releasing desired amount of steam and then straining the food items. For example, pasta is first boiled in water and then strained to be separated from the liquid. Another example is the preparation of ground meat. While browning the ground meat, liquid fat produced must be drained before the meal can be served. In other examples, certain foods such as vegetables require different amounts of steam being released depending on the texture of the vegetables desired. For example, cooking very tender broccoli requires very little steam release while crisp broccoli requires a large amount of steam release.
Commonly, an individual uses multiple kitchen utensils by cooking food in one utensil, releasing steam with a second utensil, and straining with a third separate utensil. However, using separate cooking utensils adds inconvenience in food preparation. Moreover, additional utensils take up more space in storage and dishwasher. Another typical occurrence is when a strainer is unavailable. In this case, one of the common options is to handle the lid as a barrier while straining. This creates a dangerous situation with the risk of being burned from uncontrollable escape of hot liquid and steam. Furthermore, this alternative may result in the escape of food.
There have been attempts in the prior art to fix these problems by combining a cooking vessel and a strainer into a single kitchen utensil.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,881 issued on Aug. 5, 1997 to Bruss, discloses a single utensil that combines the features of a cooking vessel with those of a strainer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,730,045 issued on Mar. 24, 1968 to Delaquis, discloses a pot and lid that can be securely integrated to function as a strainer.
However, these prior art vessel draining systems are limited in their draining capabilities. More particularly, since the locking position is fixed in the Bruss and the Delaquis devices, the amount of drainage is fixed and is limited to the size of the draining region.
Consequently, there is a need for cookware that provides an ability to adjust the desirable degree of vapor escape and drainage of liquid and food particles.